This article written by yours truly appeared in the Western Mail yesterday. It builds on some of the arguments made in this blog in the last few months on the importance of enterprise education in Wales and encouraging greater entrepreneurship amongst young people.
Last Thursday, the former Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, made his first speech to the House of Commons since his resignation earlier this year. Interestingly enough, it was on the economy in Wales and, significantly, on the importance of reducing the dependency on the public sector and growing the business sector.
That is clearly a debate for another day but another point which he made which caught my eye was his call for schools, colleges and universities to promote entrepreneurship amongst young people.
Having been involved in entrepreneurship research and teaching for nearly twenty years, I can safely say that despite considerable funding by the Entrepreneurship Action Plan, enterprise education is still not being taken seriously within Wales.
Internationally acclaimed programmes such as Young Enterprise, which are supported strongly in other countries around the world, are woefully underfunded by the Assembly Government. Small specialist companies in Wales who help to develop enterprising school pupils across the UK have been under-utilised by policymakers at a local and national level in the delivery of initiatives to increase vital entrepreneurial skills. Successful local schemes, such as Llwyddo’n Lleol in Gwynedd, have been ignored by policymakers in Cardiff Bay and there are just two higher education institutions having professors of entrepreneurship on their books in Wales.
These are just some examples of where a lack of joined up thinking is having a real affect on the capability to develop enterprise education within Wales. Perhaps the lack of focus by the Assembly over this matter can best be summed up by the fact that the ‘Dynamo’ project, set up by the Assembly to promote enterprise education, had its website last updated over sixteen months ago!
The annual study of enterprise in Wales - the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) - also suggests that much remains to be done in terms of ensuring that there is a coherent programme of support for developing young people within enterprise in Wales.
For example, nine out of a hundred young people say that they intend to start a new business in the next three years but only three will actually do so. Therefore, somewhere along the way, the high level of entrepreneurial intention fails to be converted into real entrepreneurial activity, with consequences for the future prosperity of this nation.
Of course, many will say that enterprise is something that you are born with and that it cannot be taught to anyone, but enterprise education is more than about just starting a business. Done properly, it can provide young people with new career choices and helps change their mindset towards small businesses. It teaches them to recognise and implement good ideas and generate new opportunities, as well as assisting them in goal setting and future planning.
It helps with personal development, self-esteem and developing enhancing communication, interpersonal relationship, marketing and interviewing skills. Through learning by doing, entrepreneurship students can understand how to respond to challenges, crises, and adversity in a flexible and opportunistic manner. These type of skills are vital not only for running and managing new businesses, but also for developing innovative and enterprising employees in a range of other businesses and organisations.
Most importantly, enterprise education works in creating new businesses. The GEM research has consistently shown that it helps to create a culture of enterprise among young people.and enhances their entrepreneurial intention and activity, providing them with an opportunity to develop their creativity in entrepreneurial ventures.
Of course, enterprise education does not end in the school or the university, and the GEM research has also demonstrated the success of government training schemes, particularly where participation is voluntary, in aiding the generation and survival of new businesses.
The start-up programmes run by organisations such as enterprise agencies not only ensure that a business succeeds in its first few years but also gives young entrepreneurs access to a network of other aspiring and established business owners, trainers and consultants, allowing participants to test the feasibility of their business ideas and make significant progress with their development.
Therefore, we know that enterprise education works. All that is needed now is the support from policymakers to develop enterprise for young people across the whole of Wales and ensure that a business support structure is in place to do this. If they are not prepared to do it, then perhaps it is time for our successful owner-managers to step up to the plate and provide the encouragement and support for a new generation of entrepreneurs to transform this nation.
Last Thursday, the former Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, made his first speech to the House of Commons since his resignation earlier this year. Interestingly enough, it was on the economy in Wales and, significantly, on the importance of reducing the dependency on the public sector and growing the business sector.
That is clearly a debate for another day but another point which he made which caught my eye was his call for schools, colleges and universities to promote entrepreneurship amongst young people.
Having been involved in entrepreneurship research and teaching for nearly twenty years, I can safely say that despite considerable funding by the Entrepreneurship Action Plan, enterprise education is still not being taken seriously within Wales.
Internationally acclaimed programmes such as Young Enterprise, which are supported strongly in other countries around the world, are woefully underfunded by the Assembly Government. Small specialist companies in Wales who help to develop enterprising school pupils across the UK have been under-utilised by policymakers at a local and national level in the delivery of initiatives to increase vital entrepreneurial skills. Successful local schemes, such as Llwyddo’n Lleol in Gwynedd, have been ignored by policymakers in Cardiff Bay and there are just two higher education institutions having professors of entrepreneurship on their books in Wales.
These are just some examples of where a lack of joined up thinking is having a real affect on the capability to develop enterprise education within Wales. Perhaps the lack of focus by the Assembly over this matter can best be summed up by the fact that the ‘Dynamo’ project, set up by the Assembly to promote enterprise education, had its website last updated over sixteen months ago!
The annual study of enterprise in Wales - the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) - also suggests that much remains to be done in terms of ensuring that there is a coherent programme of support for developing young people within enterprise in Wales.
For example, nine out of a hundred young people say that they intend to start a new business in the next three years but only three will actually do so. Therefore, somewhere along the way, the high level of entrepreneurial intention fails to be converted into real entrepreneurial activity, with consequences for the future prosperity of this nation.
Of course, many will say that enterprise is something that you are born with and that it cannot be taught to anyone, but enterprise education is more than about just starting a business. Done properly, it can provide young people with new career choices and helps change their mindset towards small businesses. It teaches them to recognise and implement good ideas and generate new opportunities, as well as assisting them in goal setting and future planning.
It helps with personal development, self-esteem and developing enhancing communication, interpersonal relationship, marketing and interviewing skills. Through learning by doing, entrepreneurship students can understand how to respond to challenges, crises, and adversity in a flexible and opportunistic manner. These type of skills are vital not only for running and managing new businesses, but also for developing innovative and enterprising employees in a range of other businesses and organisations.
Most importantly, enterprise education works in creating new businesses. The GEM research has consistently shown that it helps to create a culture of enterprise among young people.and enhances their entrepreneurial intention and activity, providing them with an opportunity to develop their creativity in entrepreneurial ventures.
Of course, enterprise education does not end in the school or the university, and the GEM research has also demonstrated the success of government training schemes, particularly where participation is voluntary, in aiding the generation and survival of new businesses.
The start-up programmes run by organisations such as enterprise agencies not only ensure that a business succeeds in its first few years but also gives young entrepreneurs access to a network of other aspiring and established business owners, trainers and consultants, allowing participants to test the feasibility of their business ideas and make significant progress with their development.
Therefore, we know that enterprise education works. All that is needed now is the support from policymakers to develop enterprise for young people across the whole of Wales and ensure that a business support structure is in place to do this. If they are not prepared to do it, then perhaps it is time for our successful owner-managers to step up to the plate and provide the encouragement and support for a new generation of entrepreneurs to transform this nation.
Comments
I agree with a lot of this. Apart from the fact that, other than the very generalist support you get from the likes of Business In Focus, it's really difficult to get quality advice in niche areas or to get any kind of financial support, I think the mutual advice and support you get from being in an educational environment with likeminded individuals is invaluable. I was really impressed with the Insight Out course run by Nesta and Creative Business Wales. But being surrounded by people going through the same thing is worth almost as much as the education itself.
More education, as opposed to unattainable financial support, seems to be the logical next step...
www.neilcocker.co.uk
I wonder if they will listen to him?
As for EA, I have an inkling that this row could only be the start of an invetsigation into how the Assembly has largely mismanaged its support to businesses in Wales during the last eight years. We shall wait and see.